Hard Knocks
by EDC83
Summary: In the midst of Mac's first injury since Jack's recall and departure, Mac's mind filters back through his life before Jack. As always, I try to stay true to cannon. Check out the author's note at the end of chapter 1, I am open to suggestions regarding Mac's childhood. Reviews appreciated.


**Hard Knocks: Chapter 1**

Mac sits alone on his deck reflecting on his first mission with Desi. Everyone had left about an hour ago. Matty and Riley went to their respective homes, while Bozer left to spend the night at Leanna's place.

Mac sighs and thinks, 'She's no Jack, but then there is only one Jack Dalton and he's miles away in an undisclosed location for an indeterminate amount of time. Clearly Desi is competent. No,' he chides himself, 'she's more than competent, perhaps a bit gruff but definitely an asset to the team. Overall, it was a good mission. We saved the dog, stopped the gun runners, and no one incurred injuries. Well, if you don't count the tumble I took off the dumpster after the gunpowder exploded in the warehouse; which given the fact that I didn't lose consciousness or break anything, clearly doesn't count.'

As Mac stands to finish cleaning up before bed, a wave of dizziness washes over him.

'That's odd,' Mac thinks, 'Now, what did I get up for? Huh, it looks like it's going to rain. We could use it; there have been far too many wildfires recently.'

Mac takes a deep breath, relishing the scent before a storm and the positive ionic change that sets his nerves to tingling. It's this shift in ions that cause the aches and pains people feel before it rains. Mac's thoughts are disrupted by the soft sprinkle of rain on his skin. He moves to pick up the rest of the empty bottles when a shooting pain spikes through his head and he drops unconscious on the deck.

_MacMacMac_

August 1995: Mac – Age 4

"I'm going to get you!" James MacGyver huffs chasing his boy around the kitchen table.

Angus slips under the table to escape being caught by his dad only to be scooped up and spun around by his mom, Ellen MacGyver.

"No fair!" Angus exclaims as James rounds the table and smoothers his son in kisses and tickles eliciting the boys infectious laughter.

James flies his son over to the sofa making airplane noises and the trio piles onto it.

"Do you remember what tomorrow is, sweetie?" Ellen asks.

"Play school!" Angus answers.

"Preschool," James corrects.

"No games?" Angus pouts.

"Yes, sweetie, there will be plenty of games, friends, and other fun activities," Ellen replies.

"Yay!" Angus claps.

"You'll learn so much there, my smart little man," James encourages.

"Nuh uh!" Angus shakes his head.

"Uh huh!" James nods mockingly as he tickles his son some more.

"Daddy, stop it!" Angus giggles.

"Hmm, I don't know. Are you going to learn at preschool?" James teases as he continues the tickle attack.

"No!" Angus laughs trying to squirm away.

"And why is that? We go to school to learn," Ellen asks.

"Yes, but pre means before so preschool is before school. No learning before school!" Angus explains.

"Learning is a life long process, sweetie," Ellen corrects.

"And preschool is just a school you attend before you start primary school," James elaborates.

"Preschool is school?" Angus questions.

"Yes, but you'll like school. I promise." Ellen reassures, "We should get you to bed, sweetie. You want to be well rested."

"Why?" Angus asks.

"Because a sleepy Angus is a crabby Angus, and a crabby Angus may have trouble making friends at school," Ellen explains.

James and Ellen get their son bathed and changed into pajamas. Per their usual nightly routine, they tuck little Angus in, each on one side of his twin bed.

"Good night my sweet boy," Ellen smiles.

"Sleep tight little man," James brushes his sons bangs back.

"Night mommy, daddy. I love you," Angus yawns.

James and Ellen lean in and each kiss one of his cheeks.

"And we love you," Ellen whispers, turning on his night light.

_MacMacMac_

November 1995: Mac – Still Age 4

Angus sits on his bed, dressed and ready for preschool. He yawns still tired, but excited because this afternoon they are supposed to go visit gramps for the weekend. Angus likes it there because there is a pool, a beach, and a Coney Island.

"Come on son, your mom has breakfast ready," James advises from the doorway.

"Yes daddy," Angus croaks and clears his throat to try and rid his voice of the lingering sleepy hoarseness.

Angus sits down at the kitchen table as his mom places a plate in front of him, "Scrambled eggs with cheese, just the way you like it."

"Thank you," Angus smiles picking up his fork as his parents dig into their own breakfasts.

"I'm thinking about going back to work part time now that Angus is in school. The preschool needs someone in January while Mrs. Skittles is on maternity leave. Until then I may substitute a little. Seems like a good way to ease back into teaching," Ellen tells her husband.

"I think that's wonderful dear. You know you don't have to work, but I'll support whatever you want," James replies with a smile.

Angus takes a couple of bites, and then proceeds to push the eggs around on his plate while sipping on his juice.

"Don't play with your food sweetie," Ellen corrects.

Angus obediently sets his fork done and stares at his plate.

"Finish your breakfast," James instructs and seems to be satisfied when little Angus starts sipping his apple juice again.

James and Ellen continue their conversation until their attention returns to Angus when he starts making slurping noises with the empty juice box.

"Alright son, that's enough of that," James advises gently taking away the empty carton.

"Are you finished sweetie? You didn't eat very much," Ellen frowns.

"Yes. When are we leaving for gramps'?" Angus asks enthusiastically.

"After you get home from preschool. Now, if you're not going to eat anymore, go put on your shoes," James returns.

"Okay," Angus agrees and pounces off towards his bedroom.

Angus sits on the bed with every intention to put on his shoes, but the soft mattress reminds him of how tired he is and he lays down. He tells himself it's just for a little bit, but drifts off to sleep.

"What's keeping you Angus. Don't tell me you forgot how to tie your shoes," James teases entering the room but upon finding his son asleep becomes concerned, "Hey little man, are you feeling bad?"

James kneels next to the bed and brushes back his son's bangs, frowning when his discovers that Angus feels warm. The movement rouses Angus, whose blue eyes crack open to see his dad frowning at him.

"I'm sorry daddy. I didn't mean to fall asleep," Angus replies making a move to get up, but instead breaks into a barking cough.

James gently rubs his son's back through the coughing fit, "Shh, it's alright son. Just lay here and rest. I'll be right back."

James exits, but he and Ellen quickly return with a digital thermometer and some liquid Motrin.

"Hey baby, can you take this for me?" Ellen asks softly from the other side of the bed.

Angus rolls over to face her, but his faces scrunches seeing the cup of medicine as he whines, "Yuck, don't need, not sick, just tired."

Ellen huffs an exasperated sigh and looks at James, "Will you reason with YOUR son?"

"Alright little man, if you're not sick you won't have a fever, right? So let's take your temperature and if it's below 100°, you don't have to take the medicine. BUT if it's above 100°, you'll take it. Deal?" James suggests holding out the thermometer.

"Fine," Angus opens his mouth and lets his dad place the thermometer under his tongue.

It beeps and reveals a temperature of 101.2° and Angus frowns.

"Alright, down the hatch," Ellen encourages.

Angus lets out a disgruntled moan, but honors the deal, downs the fruit flavored medicine, gags a little, and slumps back on the bed as his parents step into the hallway.

"What are you thinking dear?" Ellen asks, easily recognizing her husband's wheels turning..

"The croup has been going around. He does have a dry hacking cough," James answers.

"Maybe we should take him to the doctor just to be sure. He's already dressed," Ellen worries as James begins to gather up her electric candle warmers and dumping the potpourri out of the glass dishes scattered around the house, "What are you doing?"

"Making humidifiers to put moisture in the air of Angus's room. It'll help him breath. We just need to fill these bowls with water and set them up on the candle warmers. We have to be carefully that the water doesn't get too low or the dishes will shatter." James explains.

"That's great honey, but what about the doctor? If we don't take him today and he gets worse over the weekend, we'll have to go to the ER," Ellen redirects.

"Go ahead and make the call. I know it'll put your mind at ease," James agrees and heads back to Angus's room to set up the DIY humidifiers.

Ellen returns to the room announcing, "They can't get us in until 2:00 this afternoon," she brings over a clean pair of PJs, "Hey sweetie, let's get you into something more comfortable."

Angus coughs before asking, "No school?"

"Not today sweetie. We should stay home when we're sick. It helps you heal and keeps others from getting sick too," Ellen explains as she helps Angus change and tucks him into bed.

"So no gramps either?" Angus pouts.

"Not this weekend. We'll go other time," Ellen promises.

"No we won't! Daddy will have to work! He always has to work!" Angus becomes very upset leading to coughing and wheezing as he struggles to breath.

James rushes over to his son and supports him sitting up to get his breathing under control, "Hey Angus, I need you to try and calm down for me," he rubs his son's back, "I'll do my very best to get a couple more days off real soon so we can go visit gramps. And I promise we'll call him later today and you can talk to him, okay?"

"Okay," Angus sniffs.

Ellen puts another pillow under Angus's head to help him breath and kisses his forehead, "Get some sleep, sweetie."

She hums to Angus until he drifts off, and then she and James quietly exit the room while leaving the door cracked. They return around 12:30 and re-check his temperature to find it's risen to 102.3°. They get him to take more liquid Motrin, eat a little soup, and drink another juice box. James pulls out a t-shirt and some cotton pants from the dresser.

"Hey little man, how about we get you dressed?" James suggests.

"No, don't wanna," Angus whines, "I don't feel good, daddy."

"I know son. That's why we're going to the doctor to help get you better," James explains while helping undress and redress his boy.

"Really tired," Angus yawns as he wraps his arms around his dad's neck and James lifts him into a carry hold.

An hour later, James and Ellen are sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office. Angus still has his arms around his dad's neck and is sound asleep. Another couple comes in with a son who looks about Angus's age. The young boy walks up to them as his parents check in at the desk.

"Hi, I'm Wilt," he greets them with a wide smile showing a missing front tooth.

Ellen smiles and replies, "Hello Wilt. My name is Ellen. This is my husband, James, and that sleeping boy is our son, Angus. He's not feeling well today."

Pointing towards his parents, Wilt explains, "That's my mom and dad. There's a baby inside mommy's tummy. Today, we're going to find out if it's a boy or a girl!"

"Wow, that's very exciting! Let me guess, you're wanting a little brother?" Ellen asks in a whisper.

"Wow, how'd you know that!?" Wilt marvels.

"Wilton Bozer, I know you aren't talking people's ears off again," Mrs. Bozer warns walking over to retrieve her son she addresses Ellen, "I'm sorry. I swear this child's never met a stranger."

"It's quite alright. I've rather enjoyed his company," Ellen smiles.

Before Mrs. Bozer can reply, the door opens and the nurse calls out, "MacGyver."

"Sorry, that's us. It was lovely to meet you Wilt. I'm sure you'll be an excellent big brother," Ellen bids them farewell and follows as James carries Angus into the exam room.

After examining little Angus, the doctor confirms, "It's definitely croup. The wheezing is concerning so I'm going to give him a single dose of oral dexamethasone to help keep his airway open. Be sure he gets plenty of fluids, use Tylenol or Motrin to reduce his fever as needed, and set up a humidifier in his room. If you can, open his window a little at night. The cool air will help. Stay close and keep an ear out while he's sleeping just in case his breathing worsens."

"How long should we keep him home from pre-school?" James asks.

"Croup usually runs it's course in 3-5 days. He might be able to go back on Monday, but more likely it'll be Tuesday or Wednesday. He can return when he's feeling up to it and has been fever free for 24 hours," the doctor advises, "But if his breathing gets worse, don't hesitate to take him to the ER."

"Thanks Doctor." Ellen responds.

Under the TLC of his parents, Angus steadily starts feeling better. Ellen stays in her son's room that first night and James the next. On Sunday night, after checking the water levels in the homemade humidifiers, the parents decide to retire to their bedroom together leaving both bedroom doors cracked to listen just in case their son needs them. About 2:00 AM, a ladder rattles softly as it's leaned up against the side of the house to the second story room with a cracked window.

Ellen turns over in bed, "James, did you hear that?"

"I didn't hear anything dear. Go back to sleep," James mutters.

The window creaks a little as it's slid open.

"Okay, I definitely heard something. I think it's coming from Angus's room," Ellen insists.

James lifts his head and listens intently. The black clad figure crawls in the window, knocking one of the makeshift humidifiers off the nightstand. At the sound of the crash, James and Ellen are both up sprinting for their child's bedroom.

Angus blearily wakes up to a tall shadowy figure looming over him, backlit by his night light. He panics and starts to hyperventilate between the stranger and the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching. Ellen flips on the bedroom light and screams at the sight of a strange man reaching for her child. The figure scrambles back out the window and down the ladder. James rushes to the window immediately intending to give chase when Ellen stops him.

"James! James, he can't breathe," she cries on the verge of hysteria.

"Angus! Angus, slow your breathing down for me. It's okay. We've got you," James assures.

The words are slow to penetrate Angus's brain. He cracks open his eyes to see his bedroom fully lit and his parents on each side of him. He flings himself into his mom's arms wheezing uncontrollably.

"Please baby, please calm down for me!" Ellen begs tearfully, "Shh, everything's okay sweet boy. Come on Angus, breath for me. God James, he's turning blue!"

"I'm calling an ambulance!" James announces as he hurries back toward their bedroom.

Twenty minutes later, the sleepy little cul-de-sac is flooded with flashing lights as Ellen follows her son's stretcher into the back of the ambulance, his little face obscured by the oxygen mask.

"I'll be along just as soon as the police are finished up here," James promises and watches the ambulance speed away before heading back inside to talk to his partner.

"Jonah, what do we know? What this related to the agency?" James asks.

"It's too early to know for sure, but it doesn't look that way. It was a pretty sloppy job. Of course, we're dusting the ladder for prints and have CSI throughly combing the bedroom. It's a front facing window so it may just have been a botched robbery or kidnapping by some opportunist. You should go Jim, be with your family. I'll get everything squared away and locked up here. I'll come by later with an update." Jonah suggests.

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Thanks man," James agrees.

"Of course, go take care of that boy!" Jonah insists shooing James out the door.

A few hours later, Jonah walks into Angus's hospital room carrying three coffees.

"How is he?" Jonah whispers seeing the sleeping boy.

"Better now. His panic caused the inflammation from his respiratory infection to flair up. They gave him a shot of steroids and a sedative. He was a little dehydrated so they're pushing fluids now, but the doctor seems to think we'll be able to take him home later today," James explains.

"Good, that's good," Jonah nods.

"Thanks for coming and for the coffee. It's always good to see you." Ellen greets.

"Did the police find anything?" James inquires.

"There were prints on the ladder that belong to a Samuel Johnson, who lives a couple of blocks away. He reported the ladder stolen among other things from his garage three weeks ago. So that was a dead end, but it does lend merit to the theory that it was a petty thief who happened to notice the open window. Unfortunately, unless your son got a better look at the man than you all did, it's pretty unlikely that we'll find the perpetrator," Jonah advises.

"Well, Angus is safe; that's the most important thing. I can tell you that we will be locking his bedroom window at lights-out from now on. I don't care what the doctor says about the night air being helpful," Ellen inserts.

"Mom? Dad?" Angus calls wearily as he starts to come around and realizes he's in a strange place.

"Hey sweetie, it's okay. We're right here," Ellen moves to her son's bedside.

Noticing that his son's eyes are fixated on the stranger in the room, James steps forward and introduces, "Son, this is my friend from work, Jonah Walsh."

"Mr. Walsh," Angus nods politely.

"Hey kid, you can call me Jonah," he replies.

Angus looks to his father for approval, and James answers with a smile, "He's a good friend. Kind of like a brother, so you can call him Uncle Jonah."

"How are you feeling, baby?" Ellen asks.

"Okay, where are we?" Angus inquires.

"What do you remember about last night?" James asks.

Mac's face scrunched as he concentrates on trying to remember and then gasps.

"Hey, look at me. It's okay. You're safe. Breath, take your time. When you're ready, tell us whatever you remember," James instructs, cupping Angus's cheeks with his hands and demonstrating slow breaths.

Angus subconsciously mirrors his father's breathing pattern and after a long pause finally speaks, "I heard something break. I opened my eyes and there was a man standing over me."

"Do you remember anything about what he looked like?" James asks.

"Um, he was tall and thin. I got scared and closed my eyes for a bit," Angus admits.

"Well I don't blame you. That sounds real scary! Did you see the color of his hair or skin?" Jonah asks.

Angus gives Jonah a shy smile, "He was tan, but not real dark. His hair was dark though and kind of long."

"Kind of long?" James questions.

"Not like mom's, but longer than yours and mine. It covered his ears," Angus clarifies.

"Wow, you are very observant. Do you remember anything else?" Jonah asks.

"Only that he had a drawing on his neck. It looked like a dragon," Mac offers around a yawn.

"That's very helpful. Thank you Angus," Jonah responds, exchanging a significant look with James.

"You're welcome, Uncle Jonah," Angus beams.

"Tell you what, you did so good that Uncle Jonah and I are going to go get you a popsicle. What flavor do you want?" James offers.

"Cherry!" Angus answers enthusiastically.

"Alright, we'll be right back," James responds as they leave.

"Son of bitch," James growls as soon as they're out of the room.

"We'll get him, Jim. Now we know he's in the states, likely still in California, we can bring in more manpower. We'll get a BOLO out to all agencies," Jonah assures, "Go get your boy that cherry popsicle you promised him. We'll get a safety detail on your family, but they need you with them right now."

James let out a frustrated breath, "If he'd had just a few more seconds…"

"… Hey, you can't go there. You got to your boy in time. He's safe," Jonah interrupts.

"You're right, but if the offer still stands, I'd like to take you up on firearm training," James replies calming a bit.

"Of course, anytime," Jonah agrees.

"You're a good friend. Ellen already worries about us, I don't know how to tell her that last night was related to our work," James replies as he hands the cafeteria worker money for the popsicle.

"Well I wouldn't delay. If she hasn't figured it out yet, she will when the safety detail arrives and starts hanging around. I'll stay with your son for a bit while you all find someplace private to have that discussion," Jonah advises.

"Thanks. Now that you've met the whole family, you're going to have to start coming over for dinner now and then," James suggest.

"I don't know man, that's not really my scene. I'm a happy bachelor and my experience with married women is they always try to marry off us happy bachelors, probably don't want us giving their husbands a peek at what they're missing," Jonah laughs him off.

**AN: Some quick notes about this fic. Yes, it is going to progress chronologically through Mac's childhood until he meets Jack in the sandbox. Yes, I am going to leave poor Mac out on the deck in the rain until the backstory is over. I think we all know what happens in the next chapter so be prepared. Per my usual MO, there will be whump, angst, and occasional attempts at humor. I do have some very clear ideas for parts of Mac's childhood, but not sixteen years worth. So if you have ideas for things you want to see, leave a comment or send me a private message and I'll try to work it in. I'm currently also working on two original manuscripts so chapters may be slow to post, just FYI. **


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